Hotch's Goddaughter
by esor6
Summary: Hotch has a 15 year old goddaughter, Maddie, who's always been like a daughter to him. All of a sudden she starts acting upset and withdrawn, and needs Hotch's help. Will she confide in him and will he be able to help? *Fatherly Hotch*
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! I haven't started a new story in a long, long time, but this one came to me and I couldn't shake it so I decided to try out a chapter!**

 **I always loved fatherly Hotch, but since there's so many with him and Jack, I thought I could try a new one around the relationship with his teenage Goddaughter.**

 **If enough people like it, I'll build the story to have more CM characters.**

 **Hope you enjoy and please don't forget to review!**

SSA Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner played many roles in his busy life. He was the unit chief on the most successful BAU team in the country, and had accomplished an admirable amount as such.

He was a friend, son, coach, uncle, and good listener. Most importantly to him, he was a father to the best son he could ever ask for.

He also, however, was a godfather- a role not many people knew about, but one very close to his heart.

In college, Haley was best friends with a girl named Rachel, and she grew to be very good friends with Aaron as well. She was even a bridesmaid in the Hotchner's wedding party. Rachel later got married, then divorced, but she and Haley had always remained close.

While Rachel was married, however, she and her husband had a beautiful daughter named Maddie, and Aaron and Haley were named her Godparents.

Hotch always jokingly blamed them for making Haley want a baby so badly, even though Aaron had always wanted children as well. When Haley passed, Rachel stepped in, even watching Jack a couple times when he got called away on cases and a Jessica wasn't available.

Maddie, Haley and Aaron's goddaughter, always had a strong relationship with her godparents, especially Aaron. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she lived with her mom, so Aaron often was a father figure to her.

As she got older, Aaron was especially proud of the very intelligent, kind, and outgoing person high school sophomore she was.

Even though they couldn't always see each other too often because of his busy work and her busy high school schedule, they usually found time to text or FaceTime.

She really was like another daughter to him.

A few cases back, Maddie had called him to tell him her mom had gotten engaged to the man she'd been dating for a while.

Aaron was happy for Rachel, and knew Haley would be too. She had gotten divorced many many years ago and he could always tell she missed having a husband.

He didn't know too much about the man she was engaged to, but was very happy for her nonetheless, and even happier than he'd gotten back from his case in time to go to her engagement party at her house.

Rachel was a very successful oncologist, so she was not lacking in money. She had a big, beautiful house perfect for entertaining and right near the elite private college prep school that Maddie was enrolled in.

Hotch smiled as he pulled up, remembering when he and Haley had first visited and Haley spent hours over the next few days helping Rachel get the house decorated.

He walked in and saw Rachel right away, by the door.

"Aaron! I'm so glad you could make it." She greeted, accepting his hug.

"It's great to see you. And congratulations" he said, showing a rare, warm smile.

"I'm sure Maddie will be so happy to see you too" she said.

He nodded. "I've missed her. Is she downstairs?" He asked, scanning the sea of people but not finding her.

"No, actually, she's been up in her room doing homework. She's in one of those fun teenage moods" she said, chuckling.

Aaron smiled, "Can't wait for those to hit Jack." He replied sarcastically.

After a bit of socializing and visiting, Aaron went up to find and say Maddie, knowing he would have to leave soon.

He went upstairs and knocked gently on her door. It was mostly closed, but open enough for him to see that Maddie was working at her desk.

Hotch knocked, and Maddie gave a little flinch at the sudden sound, before turning towards him at the door.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

Maddie didn't reply, but gave a small head nod before turning back to her desk.

"She's not acting like herself at all" Hotch thought, concerned.

Normally Maddie was ecstatic to see her godfather, and always radiated her bubbly and bright personality. She was one of the most compassionate, determined, enthusiastic people Hotch knew.

And now closer to her, he could see the redness around her eyes indicating she'd been crying.

"How's my favorite goddaughter?" He said, his lips curving into a smile.

"Good" she said, scribbling down an answer onto whatever assignment she was working on, but her demeanor didn't match her answer at all.

It didn't take a profiler or her godfather to see something was really bothering her.

"Why aren't you downstairs at the party?" He questioned

She shrugged, copying down the next math problem from her textbook.

"Homework" she replied.

"That much?" He replied in a sympathetic tone. "Anything I can help with?"

She thought for a second, then pulled out a piece of paper from a folder in her backpack and handed it to him.

"Advanced law theory." She explained absentmindedly. "Did I put the correct objections for those scenarios?"

Aaron looked quickly down at the piece of paper and checked through her answers while she continued working on her math.

"This one" he said, pointing in the middle of the page, "would probably be more hearsay than argumentative. The rest look good to me, good job." He praised, but still didn't see she face change.

She nodded and took the paper back from him, changed the answer, and put it in her folder again.

"Hey" Aaron said gently before she could turn back to her work, getting her attention.

Her normally bright and guessing eyes were empty and there were dark bags under them.

"Rough day?" He asked

Maddie opened her mouth, then closed it, and shrugged. "I'm fine." She replied

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" He reminded

She nodded curtly.

"Ok. Good." He didn't want to push her, but wished she would open up to him. He couldn't think about the last time he'd seen her so upset.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to text as much the past few weeks. We were on a 2 week case in Anchorage."

"It's fine" she said, shrugging. "Did you catch the unsub?"

He nodded, "We did. He gave us quite a run for our money though"

She nodded, turning back towards her desk.

"Good" she said, reaching into her backpack to get a binder.

As she pulled he arm out, however, the long sleeve on her shirt caught a little on the backpack's edge, pulling it up a little and revealing a dark purple and blue bruise covering her wrist.

"Maddie what happened?" Aaron asked quickly, his brows furrowed in worry.

"God, _nothing!"_ She said, pulling it back down. "I'm fine. Could you stop profiling every move I make and leave me alone?!" She snapped at him.

Aaron was definitely taken aback, and hurt, too.

He had never seen Maddie talk to anyone like that, especially not him. But, he knew she needed space and just hoped she'd come to him when she was ready.

"I hope you get your work done, come find me or text me if I can help" he said, moving his chair back and leaving.

As soon as he went back downstairs, Maddie collapsed into sobs yet again that day.

"Great, you idiot" she thought. "You pissed off the one person who might be able to help you out of this mess."

A tear landed right on the problem she was working on, causing the ink to spread out and smear.

Frustrated, she tore the page out, crumpled it out, and threw it across the room.

 **What are your thoughts? Please review so I know whether or not to continue! Even a short one, I appreciate any and all feedback! :) hope you have a great day!**


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since the engagement party when Hotch saw Maddie.

After he left her room, he went down and found Rachel and subtlety pulled her aside, asking if Maddie was alright.

Rachel dismissed his concerns smiling and explained that she was probably just stressed with midterms and she was fine, not to worry.

That night, Maddie texted him, "Hey, sorry for freaking out on u earlier. Just stressed with school. Missed u and I miss jack! If you need any babysitting soon, let me know :) have a good night!"

But now, a week later, he could shake the feeling that something still wasn't quite right with her.

It was a rare Friday afternoon- the team had gotten back that morning from their case and barring any emergencies, they'd have the rest of the weekend off.

To celebrate a successful case, they made plans to all go out to dinner that night, and Hotch, per usual, declined because he wanted to spend time with Jack. But the more he thought about it, he had another idea.

"I know it's last minute, but if you're free to watch Jack tonight, I'm sure he'd love to see you." He texted to Maddie.

A minute later she replied, "Yes! I've missed him! Let me just check with my mom."

A few hours later, a knock at the door notified Hotch and Jack that Maddie was there. Before Hotch could even put down the spoon he was using to make mac-and-cheese, Jack had already zipped by him and flung open the door.

"Maddie!" He greeted, jumping onto her in a hug.

She laughed and returned the hug. "Hey Jack! I missed you bud!" She said, as Hotch joined them in the hall.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice Maddie" he said with a rare Hotch smile.

"Anytime" she replied sincerely, already distracted by the toys and books Jack was trying to show her.

Hotch glanced down at his watch as his typical look of seriousness returned to his face.

"Well I've got to get going in a minute, but dinners on the stove and bedtime by 8:30 right Jack?" He said, looking at his son.

"Got it Dad!" He replied with a grin.

"Alright buddy" Hotch said with a chuckle. "You be good for Maddie and I'll see you in the morning. I should be back around 10" he told Maddie.

Hotch grabbed his coat and put it on then put his phone in his pocket and took his keys from the table. "Can I get a hug goodbye?" He said to Jack, who happily ran up and wrapped his body around Hotch's waist.

Hotch smiled, patting his back. "You be good buddy, love you."

"Love you too Dad!" Jack said, and Hotch left.

Jack and Maddie had a fun evening of eating dinner, building a fort, and playing "superheroes."

In just a few short hours, it was time for Jack to go to bed, and he complied, feeling tired from all they had done that night.

Once he brushed his teeth and got changed into race car pajamas Hotch had left out, Maddie pulled the covers on his bed down and he crawled under them.

"Story?" He asked with a smile hinting at his lips.

"You betcha" Maddie replied, grabbing one from the nightstand.

By the time she finished reading, Jack was almost asleep with a teddy bear in his arms and his eyes looking more sleepy by the minute.

Maddie put the story back and turned his nightlight on, but before she could leave, Jack's small voice stopped him.

"Maddie?"

"Yeah buddy, what's up?" She said, returning to his bedside.

"Daddy said your mommy is getting married again."

Maddie nodded slowly, trying to not let her own feelings about the matter show in her face.

"Th-that's right Jack she is." Maddie confirmed, not sure where the conversation was going.

"Are you excited?" He asked

Maddie thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I'm excited that my mom is happy" she replied.

"Maddie?" He asked again

"What's up bud?"

"Do you think daddy will ever get married again?" He asked innocently

"I'm not sure, Jack." She replied truthfully. "But remember if he does your mommy will still be with you in heaven and always love you."

Jack nodded, accepting the answer, and shut his eyes, drifting off to sleep almost instantly.

Maddie quietly pulled his door to be open just a crack, and went downstairs to clean up some, still thinking about the conversation they had just had.

About an hour later she had broken down most of the fort, watched some tv and was finishing up the dishes from dinner when she heard the door open and Hotch come in from the garage into the kitchen.

She finished washing the plate she was on and set it on the dish drain, then wiped her hands dry.

"Hey Maddie" Hotch greeted, setting his keys down quietly on the counter. "How was Jack?"

"He was great, as always" she replied, and a small look of pride filled Hotch's face.

"Well thanks again for coming, I know he loves spending time with you." He replied, putting the water on for tea.

"Anytime" she replied, walking towards the table.

It had become a little tradition whenever Maddie babysat in the evening for her and Hotch to have tea together and catch up a little before Hotch drove her home.

Maddie sat down at the table, and was responding to some texts with a look of slight worry on her face when Hotch finished the tea and came over.

He broke her out of her thoughts by placing the mug next to her, and sitting down across the table with his own.

"Everything ok?" He said, eyebrows raised slightly in suspicion as she put her phone down, immediately changing her facial expression back to normal.

She smiled and nodded, taking a sip of her tea.

"Yeah just... stupid friend drama." She replied lightly.

"It's not boys is it?" He said, half jokingly but half seriously too.

As much as he hated admitting it to himself, he couldn't stand the idea of any boys being interested in Maddie. She was like a daughter to him, and as she got older, he certainly felt the protective side of himself come out, even though he didn't want to admit it to himself.

She gave a slight laugh and rolled her eyes. "No, my friends all like my boyfriend"

Hotch put his mug down quickly. "Boyfriend?" he questioned.

" _Shit"_ Maddie thought, kicking herself under the table. It had just slipped out.

"For how long?" He demanded.

Maddie forced a light laugh. "It's nothing serious Uncle Aaron. It's just been going on for a few weeks, I didn't mean to say it."

"Does your mom know?" He asked

Maddie bit her lip and shook her head slightly, a little sadness creeping back on her face.

"She's been so busy with work, and now the wedding of course..." she trailed. "It's not important, I didn't want to bother her."

"Maddie" Hotch said, a little confused at her answer. "You're never a bother to her."

"Maybe, but I am a second thought sometimes, especially with everything so hectic now with planning" she confided.

She had talked to Hotch a couple times over the years in frustration with her Mom- she was very successful, but very busy, and definitely left Maddie to be independent a lot.

It was another reason he made spending time with her a priority, especially since she was missing the father figure in her life.

He nodded slowly, "Is that what's been going on? With the party and all?"

"Gosh you're still on this? Don't you have like, I don't know, federal crimes to focus on solving?" She said laughing a little, and effectively avoiding his question. "What happened in the last case?"

"Ritualistic murders" he replied, noting her subject change.

"Hmm, that's interesting." She said

He nodded, "and gruesome. It took us a couple days to even realize that's what they were, Reid recognized a symbol pattern in the M.O though."

Although she had never met the team and they didn't know about her, she felt like she knew they from all the cases and stories Hotch shared with her.

She nodded. "That's good that you caught him at least."

"It is" Hotch replied. "So back to this boy.."

Maddie rolled her eyes.

"He's treating you ok, right? Because if not be happy to pay him a visit and..."

" _Yes_ he's fine" Maddie said, laughing at how protective he was being and cutting him off.

Hotch raised an eyebrow, not fully accepting her answer.

"He can be a little controlling sometimes, but he's nice." She continued.

Hotch's brows knit together. "Physically controlling? I saw the bruise on your wrist last weekend.." he said, his voice now laced with worry.

"What? No. Uncle Aaron could you please stop interrogating me? I'm fine. I just... had a bad day on Sunday." She replied, still smiling, but clearly feeling a little taken back by all his questions.

Now it was Hotch who kicked himself. He let his overprotective side take over, and he needed to calm down. Maddie needed someone to be able to openly talk to, not feel interrogated by.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I was just worried about you." He told her. "You're allowed to have bad days, just.. remember you can always talk to me if you do." He reminded.

Maddie smiled softly. "I know."

"Good." Hotch replied, "so how's law theory going?" He started, and the two talked for a while more in their usual light tone about school and funny stories with jack, and after a half hour or so, Hotch drove her home.

When he came back, he went to check on Jack and found him sleeping peacefully. He crossed the room to his bed and pressed a gentle kiss on his head, then rubbed his face looking at his young son, knowing someday he too would want to start dating... and just hoped his "girls have cooties" phase would last as long as possible.

 **Sorry I kind of forgot about this, but there's much more to this story that I have planned if people still are interested in it! please let me know what you think by reviewing!**


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the weekend went by relatively for Hotch and Maddie.

Hotch coached Jack's winning soccer game on Saturday, then the two went out for ice cream. On Sunday, they got pumpkins to carve together with Halloween coming up in a couple weeks.

Rachel, Maddie's mom, was especially busy that weekend meeting with a few caterers and florists for the wedding, and leaving Maddie alone most of the time, but that was fine with Maddie considering she had midterms coming up to study for.

She was a smart girl, and in all advanced or AP classes. Although she had the brain and work ethic to handle it, it was still a lot for her to balance.

Everything seemed to be winding down fine on Sunday night. Maddie was almost finished writing an English paper, and decided to give her brain a break from it by taking a nice, relaxing shower, and then going back later to proofread it.

After getting out of the shower, she put on lotion, wrapped her hail in a towel and put her fluffy bathrobe on before checking her phone to see a new message from her Uncle Aaron:

"Just checking in. Do you feel ready for tomorrow? Did you get to relax a little this weekend?"

She gave a small smile knowing that her had checked in on her especially feeling a little extra distanced from her mom and soon to be stepfather this weekend.

Maddie had a test in advanced law theory the next day, and the had texted Hotch with a question the day before. As a former defense attorney, he was always her first resource when she didn't understand something in what was turning out to be a very demanding class.

"Yes and yes-ish :) have a good night!" She replied before opening the door to go back into her room.

She sighed looking at the clock the read 11:20, knowing she still had to edit her paper and do math problems before getting up at 6am for school the next day.

Setting her phone down, she decided to go downstairs to get some tea for energy to finish the rest of her work.

She walked downstairs quietly, knowing her mom was surely already asleep.

She padded into the newly renovated kitchen and put water on the stove, when she suddenly felt a presence right behind her.

She gasped as she felt a hand rub from her shoulder to lower arm, and turned to see the face of her soon to be step father Chris.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" he said, still standing a little too close for Maddie's comfort.

"Oh.. um, that's ok, I just didn't hear you" she said trying to brush it off, and moving away towards the now boiling water.

Chris and her mom had been dating for the past year and a half.

At first, Maddie was happy for her mom. She didn't expect for her to ever get back into dating, but from the way she talked about Chris, she could tell how much she really liked him.

Then, after finding out he was a few years younger, Maddie was worried that maybe Chris was just using her mom for her wealth she had acquired from her many years as a successful oncologist.

But after doing some quick searches, Maddie found that he was a senior developer at a successful software engineering business, and made a high salary himself.

When her mom had asked her to go to dinner with the two of them, Maddie could tell things were getting serious, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that.

The idea of a guy- any guy- coming in and possibly _marrying_ her mom just felt... weird. No matter how amazing and smart and kind she claimed her was.

And he was nice... mostly. But from the moment he and Maddie met she just felt weird around him. Even though she tried to convince herself it was all in her head, the prolonged stares, the touchiness... she just didn't feel comfortable around him.

But when she saw how happy her mom was, she couldn't bring herself to bring it up to her. She didn't even know _what_ she'd be bringing up.

"He looks at me weird?" Then she'd just sound like a kid wanting attention, and she was well past that.

And really, nothing concrete had even happened... except for that previous Sunday...

Maddie finished making her tea and turned the stove off, then turned to see Chris still there, presumably watching her. Taking her mug and trying to walk past him, she was stopped by his unexpectedly strong grip on her shoulder.

"Hang on just a second Maddie," he requested in his normal, kind voice, but Maddie still felt her heartbeat quicken at the sudden move.

"I know we don't know each other very well yet, but you've been so understanding and happy for your mom and me, and I know that means the world to her. You're a good kid, and I'm looking forward to moving in after the wedding and getting to really all be a family together."

The words were right, but something... Something still was just off in his face, behind his smile.

And Maddie hated him hearing the world "family."

If he thought he was going to be her "dad" in any way, he was dead wrong.

The only person like that as far as she was concerned was her Uncle Aaron.

She gave a polite smile back. "Um, yeah, thanks." She replied, wanting more now to go upstairs and starting to brush past him but he stopped her, and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She half heartedly returned it, finding it rather odd and random.

Then, subtly, Maddie felt his hand move from her back down to her butt and squeeze it very slightly.

She froze.

But as quickly as it happened, he ended the hug, leaving a scared and confused Maddie. Once he broke apart her hand and arm started to shake, just enough that some of the tea spilled out of the top and onto Chris's slipper.

He jumped back and took off the slipper. Although he still seemed relatively calm, Maddie saw something- anger, annoyance- flash briefly across his face.

He grabbed her arm, right below her elbow, hard.

She gasped slightly in pain.

"You need to be more careful with that, understand?" She said, increasing the grip on her arm.

She nodded quickly. "Yeah, sorry it was an accident." She said

He nodded and let go of her now throbbing arm with his same, normal smile replacing his look of anger. "No problem. Good luck with the rest of your homework. Goodnight" And just like that, left the kitchen as suddenly as he entered.

Maddie nursed her arm for a second before grabbing her tea and rushing back up the stairs to the safety of her room, trying to process what had just occurred.

She sat down at her desk and pulled her laptop open but after a half hour, hadn't edited a single word.

She stared at her reflection in the laptop screen, and to her surprise, saw a tear escape her eye and fall into her lap.

Maddie wasn't very emotional, and when she was, hated others seeing it.

Even when she was stressed, she always had a smile on her face and kept a positive outlook- it was just the kind of person she was.

But now her brain felt scattered in a million directions.

" _Focus."_ She scolded herself in her computer screen.

"It was nothing. Nothing big, nothing worth being upset about. You're just not used to him in the house." She convinced.

Maddie pushed the feelings aside and finished editing her paper fairly well, printed it, and put it in her book bag.

She half heartedly worked through some calc problems, but despite usually enjoying solving them, could barely get through them.

She sighed once more looking at the clock and seeing it was approaching 1 am.

Her stupid zoning herself out had cost her so much time. She finished her final problem, and shut off her light, falling into a rather uneasy sleep.

The next morning, she felt extra slow as she dragged herself out of bed and put her uniform on.

Wanting to avoid the possibility of seeing her mother, and especially Chris, she texted her neighbor who was a senior at her school for an earlier ride, left a note on the kitchen counter for her mom, and went to school.

Maddie's school was elite to say the least. Even getting into required strong letters of recommendation and a standardized test score that indicated you were in the top 25% of your middle school.

Rachel had always valued education and Maddie had always been naturally smart, so she didn't mind paying the $25,000 tuition knowing Maddie was getting the most qualified teachers, small classes, and a good shot at an Ivy League college.

Once she got there, she went to her locker and packed her books for her first 3 classes, and ran into Matt, her new boyfriend.

"Hey Mads" he said, walking over towards her with a coffee in his hand for her.

"Hey" she replied with a smile, gratefully taking the coffee. "Thank you, I definitely needed this" she laughed, temporarily forgetting the worries of Chris on her mind.

"Anytime. How was your weekend?" He asked

"Good" she lied. "Just busy with homework"

He laughed. "Yeah I bet, you couldn't come to the game." He said, referring to the soccer semi finals that were that weekend. Matt was the star mid fielder, and the whole school always got really into the games since the boys soccer was their best team.

"Oh babe I'm so sorry" Maddie replied sincerely. "I just completely forgot. How'd it go?"

"Hey no worries, I know you have a lot of schoolwork to balance," he replied understandingly. "We won. Quarter finals are tomorrow, though. You'll be there, right?"

"I- I promise I'll try" Maddie replied, with the bell for first period cutting her off.

"Sorry I have to go all the way to west wing, I'll talk to you later" she said

"See you later, and lunch later right?" He reminded

She nodded before heading off. "See you later!"

Once she got to her first class, though, advanced law theory, it was like she was completely spaced out.

She didn't know if it was lack of sleep or still not being able to shake Chris, but she couldn't get her mind to shut up and focus on the task at hand. When her classmates started finishing, she still had 5-10 questions left she couldn't figure out. Sighing as she looked up at the clock and saw she only had a few minutes left, she circled "A" for all of them and handed it in dejectedly.

She normally never did something like that- in fact she was normally so prepared that she was the first one finished. But today...

Leaving class, she checked her phone to see a new message from her Uncle Aaron.

"How did the test go?" He had asked, referring to the one she had just bombed.

Not even having the heart to answer, she put it away and walked into calc.

In calc, she seemed somehow more distracted. She kept replaying what had happened the previous night with Chris. His hand during the hug... that could easily have just been in her head. She had woken up to a nice purple and blue mark on her arm, but surely he hadn't meant to grip it that hard, right?

And besides, Maddie had always bruised easily...

"Maddie answer to number 6?" Her teacher had repeated, snapping Maddie out of her thoughts

"Oh, umm, 6... The limit does not exist" she answered looking down at her homework.

A couple obnoxious upperclassmen snickered behind her and her teacher looked at her typically standout student strangely- brows knit together and concern in her eyes- before looking at a girl in the row behind her. "Sam what did you get for number 6?" The teacher asked.

"y= 14x+2.6" Sam answered

Maddie looked down at her homework, confused, then saw she had just looked at her answer for number 4 instead of 6.

"Idiot" she thought to herself, but the rest of class her focus still wasn't back.

"Maddie can you stay behind a minute?" Her teacher asked as the bell rang.

Maddie gathered her books together and approached her teacher after the rest of the students left.

"Maddie is everything ok? You seem like something's bothering you." Her teacher asked. She was one of Maddie's favorites- a young, personable teacher in her early 30's who made her students work hard, but always learn the material well.

Maddie nodded. "Yeah everything's fine, I was just up late studying, sorry." She replied, but the response came out a little too quickly and rehearsed for the teacher's liking.

She nodded, clearly not convinced. "Ok, well remember I'm here to help with... anything you might need. And Ms. Dowy's office is always open too." She said, referring to the school's guidance counselor.

Maddie nodded, "Thanks" she replied, leaving the classroom.

She hated needing help and she hated talking about problems with anyone. As she left the classroom she felt her phone buzz and saw a text from Matt.

"Lunch at team table outside" and sighed.

She _did_ like Matt, and he was a great guy, but he could unintentionally be very controlling at times, too. Between everything from last night and now his text, as much as she hated it, she knew she had to somehow talk or rant out everything before it caused her to screw anything else up that day.

She headed up to the school greenhouse knowing it was almost always empty, but she had access since she was growing plants in there for a bio project.

Once she saw it was empty, and sat down and pulled her phone out, staring at it, unsure what to do.

She was _not_ one to ask for help usually.

Slowly, she unlocked it and opened her contacts, searching and quickly finding "Uncle Aaron."

She stared at the screen for a second, not sure what to do. What would she even tell him? And he was probably busy at work, possibly on a case.

But she also knew that if there was anyone she could trust to talk to, it was him. She'd figure out what to say when he answered.

Taking a breath to calm herself, she pressed the "call" icon and held the phone up to her ear.

 **To thank you for all the support, I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter! Please review with your thoughts if you want the next one posted soon! Reviews motivate me to write! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Having just landed in Florida on a new case that morning, Aaron frowned his phone seeing Maddie calling him.

"But we... Hotch- Hotch?" He heard Morgan say.

Hotch looked up to see the team staring at him, waiting for instructions.

"Yes- you and Rossi go to the crime scene. The rest of us will build the profile from here" he delegated, clicking the decline button on Maddie's call. She would call again if it was something emergent, but for now he had a brand new case and his full focus needed to be on solving it before any other women were murdered.

Maddie sighed hearing it go to voicemail, but then felt a sense of relief.

What was she even going to say to him? He was probably working and might be flying to a new state as she sat there. Besides, she was probably just overreacting. She got up from and left the green house, determined to push away her distractions and get through the rest of the day.

And she did, fairly well. The remainder of her classes were lecture, so her focus was on copying the notes, and she had almost convinced herself that she imagined the whole thing the night before.

Her mom was marrying Chris, he made her happy, and that was that. Maddie needed to learn to adjust.

After track practice, she got a ride home with a neighbor, and walked in the door around 5. She could smell her moms cooking, and followed the scent to the kitchen.

"Hey Mom" Maddie said, walking in and putting her bags down on the table.

"Hey sweetheart" Rachel replied, looking up from the chicken she was cooking to smile at her daughter. "How was school?"

"Fine" Maddie lied. "Whatcha making?"

"Chicken parmesan" her mom replied

"Oo guess I'll save my appetite then" Maddie smiled, knowing her mom was making one of her favorite dishes.

"Oh honey before I forget" Rachel said, putting the pan heat on low and walking to the table. "Which deign for the place cards at the wedding?" she asked, pointing towards 2 options.

The first had a name in cursive in the center with a dainty floral border in gold and the second had, well, a name in cursive in the center with maybe more of a _swirled_ border in gold.

"Umm... I guess this one?" Maddie randomly chose, pointing to the right.

It had taken her a second to even find the difference, but she knew her mom just wanted a second opinion to make sure everything was perfect.

"Oh good, I was leaning towards that!" She replied.

"Oh wait sweetie" she said, stopping Maddie from walking upstairs.

"Come back here a second" she requested kindly, and Maddie returned.

"Your Uncle Aaron texted me the other night making sure you were alright... you're just stressed from midterms, right? Nothing else?" She asked

"Yeah, yeah just midterms" Maddie said. The lies came off so easily to her mom sometimes.

She was close with her, but not in a tells-her-all-the-boy-and-life-drama -and-every-detail-of-her-life-way.

They were still close and loved shopping and talking and doing things together, but Rachel's busy work and schedule, especially when Maddie was younger had taken a toll.

"Oh good, just checking." Rachel said. "I know all the wedding planning and all isn't easy and its taking up so much of my time, but you know I always love you more than anything and I am so proud of all you're doing. I know this is a ... new step and a big change in our lives, but I love Chris so much and I know you will too, once you get to know him a little more." She finished.

Maddie felt her heart swell a little at her moms kind words, and hearing she was proud of her.

"Thank mom, love you too" she replied sincerely.

Rachel smiled before wrapping her in a hug.

"Now go get some work done so you can take a break for dinner soon!" She said once they broke off.

Maddie did just that, enjoyed dinner and catching up with her mom, then returned back up to her room to finish one last assignment, shower, and relax a little before bed.

Once she showered, she sat on her bed and watched some Netflix before going to bed while texting Matt.

"What took you so long to respond?" He had texted, after she sat down on her bed.

"Was in the shower, sorry" she replied

She waited, but he didn't reply. After a minute she sent

"Ready for the game tomorrow?"

"Hope so. You'll be there right?" He reminded

Maddie sighed. Sometimes she just felt like she didn't have a choice with him... was she even ready to be dating right now? He just moved so fast and she was already so busy..

"Yup, I'll be there. You'll do great! :)" she responded

"Thanks. Goodnight" he sent back, ending the conversation.

When Maddie looked up from her phone, she saw Chris standing in her doorway.

"Oh gosh, you scared me" Maddie said, trying to keep her tone light and laughing a little.

She couldn't help but wonder how long he'd been standing there...

"Sorry" he replied, crossing her room to her bed.

Maddie felt her body tense up when he came closer.

"Good day at school?" He asked, although is didn't quite sound sincere.

Maddie nodded quickly. "Yup, was just about to go to bed now." She lied, closing her laptop.

He nodded. "Well, goodnight" and very casually, very quickly rubbed his hand from her knee to her upper thigh and squeezed it slightly, then got up and left before she could even process what was happening.

She sat there again, frozen for a second.

 _What_ had just happened?

Before she could try and replay it, her phone ringing next to her broke out of her thoughts.

She looked down and saw "Uncle Aaron" on the screen.

 _Crap_ she thought, forgetting she had tried to call him earlier.

She picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi Maddie, sorry I missed your call earlier. We got called to a case in Florida almost as soon as we got in. " Hotch explained

"Oh no worries, how's the case going?" Maddie replied, hoping he wouldn't ask her why she had called.

"Well we got a big breakthrough about an hour ago, if things line up the way we think we should hopefully be able to make the arrest tomorrow or Wednesday" he told her.

"Oh thats great" Maddie replied sincerely

"How was the law theory test?" He asked

Maddie rubbed her hand on her eyes, "Umm, it... wasn't my best" she said, not going into much detail past that.

"Really?" Hotch replied, the surprise evident in his voice. "You seemed so ready."

"Yeah, um, its fine, I'll just balance it with homework" she replied, hoping he would ask more specifics.

Hotch's brow furrowed at her response.

He was trying so hard not to profile her but her response to bad grades was usually frustration that she didn't prepare better, not this "oh well" attitude... her struggling in school combined with her jumpiness and the sadness she was trying to hide from him were all warning signs to things he did not like. At all. And he wasn't stupid... No matter how hard he tried to not push or profile her her behavior had more and more red flags in it.

"Was everything ok earlier when you called?" He asked

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that, everything's fine" She replied

"Ok, well-"  
"I've got to get to bed, I'll let you get back to the case Uncle Aaron. Be safe, talk to you later!" she said, ending the conversation before she could get cornered.

"Hotch" Aaron heard Morgan say and saw him motion his presence from the back from he was on the phone from.

He couldn't push anything, he had to go too.

"Ok, goodnight." He replied, hanging up and following Morgan back to the case.

 **If you have just another second, please review if you want the story continued! Any feedback or ideas are appreciated. Thank you for reading! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know, this has been FOREVER! I'm sorry! I hope you will forgive me and still read and enjoy this chapter! Please review if you want it continued so I can gague interest!**

Over the next few days, Maddie worked hard to keep her happy, carefree image up at school in front of her teachers and friends, but it was quickly becoming exhausting. She felt like she used all her energy at school, and was completely burned out when she got home at 4, but still had a full night of work and studying. Every time she saw Chris's car, her heart raced and every time she saw him in person, she thought she might throw up. She was used to always knowing what to do but had no idea to handle this, and that made it new and scary. Her mom seemed to be busier than ever, and every time she saw her wedding planning it forced her into keeping quiet even more.

Her mom was so happy, how could she take that away from her over something that she couldn't even figure out how to put into words?

Since that last phone call 5 days before with her Uncle Aaron, she had been avoiding talking to him. She was worried that if she did, the story would tumble out, and she wasn't sure if that was something she wanted to happen anymore.

She replied to his periodic texts, knowing it would look bad if she didn't, but kept her responses short and simple, and didn't try to call him again.

The more she thought about it... she was 15 years old. In 2 more years, she'd be out of the house, off at college then living her own life, and she wouldn't have to deal with Chris again.

She could make it 2 years for the sake of her mom's happiness, couldn't she?

"Maddie?" Her homeroom teacher called out, breaking her from her thoughts.

"What? Sorry." Maddie replied, mad at herself for spacing out again. She looked around and saw most of her homeroom already packed up and starting to get ready to leave. School let out in 5 minutes.

"Maddie is everything alright?" Her teacher asked, coming towards her desk.

Maddie rolled her eyes internally but quickly put a smile on her face.

"Everything's fine" She said in the best, chipper voice she could get, putting her laptop in her bag and zipping it shut.

Her teacher didn't look particularly convinced but let her stand up to leave.

"Have a good day!" Maddie called, exiting the classroom and walking towards the parking lot.

When she got home she anxiously scanned to check for Chris's black sedan, and breathed a sigh of relief when it wasn't in the driveway.

She walked inside and called out "I'm home!" Before walking towards the kitchen to get a snack before starting her homework.

"Oh hi honey! How was school?" Her mom asked obliviously. On Wednesday's she only worked half days, and was home busy at work wedding planning at the table.

"Good" Maddie lied, grabbing an apple from the fridge and heading up to her room.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she closed the door behind her, dropped her backpack, and plopped on her bed.

"You're fine, everything's fine" she said to herself again, trying to believe it to be true. But no matter how many times she did this, she knew in her heart it wasn't. She was a smart girl and she knew what was happening, she just didn't want to believe it. And didn't know what she could do.

The night was going relatively peacefully. She and her mom ate dinner during which her mom chatted incessantly about wedding details to which Maddie nodded and gave occasional feedback, but the truth was that she was too tired to contribute much and just relieved that Chris was working late and not eating with them. After helping with the dishes, she was back in her room working on homework until a text from Aaron broke her out of the math homework she was engrossed in.

It read, "Just got back from the case, do you have a minute to talk?"

Maddie groaned. Why, on the one night things were actually going fine and she was being productive, did he have to call? She knew he, and her teachers and everyone else kept expressing how worried they were about her and she was tired of it.

She hated that. She hated that word, "worried."

To her, it just meant give the person space, stop telling them how concerned you are 24/7. It's not going to solve anything. Maddie had always been a tough kid and she hated talking about herself and her feelings and she hated others being worried about her.

She sighed, knowing his profiler instincts would kick in if she didn't reply or said no, so she picked up her phone and called him.

"Hi Uncle Aaron" she said when he picked up, careful to keep her voice chipper and happy.

"Hey Maddie, how're you doing?" He replied

"I'm good!" She chirped. "How was the case?"

"Not bad, we got the unsub in a couple of days, thankfully." He replied

"That's good!"

There was a pause in the conversation before he continued.

"Maddie, I've tried to stand back and let you be but I've been worried about you lately."

She paused for a moment, not quite sure how to reply, then heard herself say, "Uncle Aaron you worry too much. I'm fine!" Her tone was upbeat and she even laughed a little as she said it, impressing herself with how easy it was becoming to lie to the one person she was dying to confide in.

Maybe she could keep it a secret for just a couple more years. Maybe she should.

Hotch let a moment pass before deciding to approach what he was thinking head on.

"How's your boyfriend Maddie?" He asked.

Maddie let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding of relief. He assumed it was Matt, her boyfriend, nothing else. He really didn't know what was actually on her mind, which meant she didn't have to feel like she was lying to him.

"Oh, he's fine" she replied, not really sure now where the conversation was headed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure" she laughed. "Look, school has just been a lot lately. This year is just really important to set me up for next year which is what colleges care the most about." She went on. That was technically true, but she didn't really care about that, it was just what her college counselor had drilled into their heads.

"I know it is, but you have to take car-" he started talking, but Maddie's attention immediately dropped when she heard the garage door, knowing Chris was home. Her heart sped up, and the hand still holding her pencil from her homework started to shake.

"Maddie? Are you there?" Hotch's voice came through, the concerned tone returning.

"Yeah I-I have to go, sorry. I'll call you back later!" She said, and hung up before she could think about how that would look to him or he could say anything else.

Maddie looked at her clock, desperate to come up with a plan.

It was late, late enough that her mom was already asleep and that meant she could pretend to be too. That way he couldn't bother her. She jumped up, turned off the lights in her room and jumped into bed, already in her pajamas. She placed her notebook and calculator on her bedside table, got under the covers, and pretended to be asleep just in time to hear footsteps ascending the stairs.

She didn't hear anything for a minute, and assumed he just went into the master bedroom where her mom was.

Just as she was about to sit up, though, she heard her door creak open.

 **Want to find out what happens? Leave a review and if I get enough I will post a new one tomorrow! Thanks for your support of this story!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow, thank you all for the kind reviews and support! I was happy to see that there is still interest in this story, and as promised, here is the next chapter.**

 **Warning- while I don't think it is anything graphic, I wanted to put out a warning of rape/assault in this chapter. Read at your own discretion.**

Maddie froze hoping it was in her head, but heard it creak open wider, now all the way open, and sensed another presence in her room.

Her heart started racing, and she kept her eyes shut, too afraid to open them.

She felt like she was trapped in a horror movie where she wanted so badly to look at a scary part to see what was going on, but also knew she was safer just skipping through it so she wouldn't be frightened.

She lay frozen and heard another sound- a quiet clang and then a zipper.

 _No no NO!_ She thought. This was not happening. It was a bad dream, right?

She waited another moment, and finally worked up the courage to open her eyes the tiniest bit. It was dark, and she couldn't stand to keep them closed much longer.

She barely squinted one eye open, and was appalled at the sight in front of her. Chris was standing in front of her, staring right in her eyes with his pants down, clearly enjoying himself.

Maddie shut her eye again, but it was too late. He saw and he knew she was awake.

"Oh good" she heard his low voice as it approached her. "I hope I didn't wake you."

She voice was now beside her, _sitting_ next to her, and despite telling them not to, her eyes opened.

"You are such a beautiful girl" he said, slowly removing her barrier of a blanket from her body.

Her protection was gone and she flinched as his hand touched the waistband of her sweatpants...

"No don't... stop" she said weakly, but it came out sounding more like a question then anything.

"Don't stop?" He said, twisting her words with a smile, "I won't. Just relax... I've been thinking about this for a long time" he said. His tone sounded almost kind and sincere which made it all the more sickening to her.

Her pants were down around her ankles and his hands started to grope her.

 _Maddie DO SOMETHING_ she desperately demanded of herself, but it was like she was frozen in place.

Chris climbed next to her in bed, stroking her hair, continuing his assault.

 _Move... scream... anything!_ She told herself. She wasn't weak, this wasn't like her. She was the first to fight back when she had do, so why couldn't she now? She just... froze. Her body stayed frozen in place a minute.

Now completely detached, she was floating almost, feeling nothing that was being done to her body, and hearing nothing but mumbled nonsense from her attacker.

It was like she left her body and watched what was happening, rather than feel it, but after a minute she simply chose to look away and pretend it wasn't happening.

She looked up at the ceiling and focused on that instead, seeing a small stain on her ceiling.

His grunts and words became like background noise as she desperately starred at that stain, trying to keep her mind from understanding what was happening to her body.

Within 5 minutes of staring at the ceiling, he was finished, and he sat up looking at her, forcing her to divert her attention from her safety stop on the ceiling.

"Oh Maddie, I've been thinking about this for a long time and you did not disappoint. I know you liked that, because you know that I would never hurt you." He said in a soft tone. "After all, we're family now."

Maddie stayed frozen in horror at his words as tears welled in her eyes.

 _Never_ she thought. He would _NEVER_ be her family.

And just as suddenly and scarily as he had entered her room, he was gone, leaving a very frightened and fragile Maddie in bed, not daring to move a muscle.

She stayed frozen for what only seemed like minutes as her mind tried to comprehend what had just happened, but minutes quickly turned to hours and all too soon, a spot of sun hit her trusted stain spot on the ceiling, breaking Maddie out of her trance.

Slowly she sat up, wondering if it had all been a bad dream, but looked down to see blood stained on her sheets between her legs and it all became too real and overwhelming.

Tears flooded down her face and she was struggling to breathe when she heard her moms clanking of high-heels hit the hardwood floors in the hall outside her room. It was like something clicked in her mind and she went into defense mode.

Her mom could NOT know about this.

Not now, not ever.

She jumped up ran to the bathroom connected to her room, ignoring the pain that shot between her legs.

"Maddie?" Her mom called as she walked by. "Are you up already?"

"Yeah... just getting ready" she heard herself call back from the bathroom.

"Ok I have an early meeting but have a great day sweetie!" She replied obliviously, and the heels descended down the stairs.

Maddie slowly turned from the door and looked at her reflection.

She was a mess. Dark circles from not sleeping were under her eyes, and her skin was pale and clammy.

 _You need a plan_ she thought to herself, willing her tired brain to figure out what to do.

 _Ok... school._ She thought. _You have a test today you can't miss and Mom will find out if you don't go to school._

And now with that plan in place, she quickly left her bathroom, shut the bedroom door and got changed into her uniform, grabbed her wallet and phone and raced outside before Chris could wake up and see her again.

Now outside though, she realized that she had left her backpack inside.

She glanced down at her phone and saw 6:00. Her carpool wouldn't be here for another 30 minutes but Chris would surely be up by now.

 _Shit_ she thought. Now what could she do?

She sat down on the front porch steps, trying to devise a new plan when a text vibration broke her from her thoughts.

She glanced down and saw it was from her Uncle Aaron reading: _Are you free on Saturday afternoon? Let me take you out to lunch._

Tears welled in her eyes again. For a girl who almost never cried, it was unlike her, but reading the text made something click in her head.

She knew what she had to do, she just didn't want to accept it.

She knew that she had been raped by her soon to be stepfather.

There was no more confusion, no more keeping quiet. No more pretending she was ok, lying to her teachers and dodging calls from her Godfather. She couldn't do it anymore.

It was time to talk to Uncle Aaron.

Now she just had to get to him.

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think and/or what you want to happen. If you do it will help encourage me to get the next chapter up very soon! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Maddie had been to her Godfather's office a few times before. The FBI had put on a few family fun days in summers past and she and Jack went a few times with Hotch, especially after Hailey died.

The field office was easy enough to get to- there was a metro stop right near it and a metro station was within biking distance from her house.

She was on autopilot after she made her decision as she rode her bike to the station, got her ticket and rode in, then put the address in her google maps to walk the short distance from the metro stop. Soon enough, she was facing the impressive front of the FBI field office where the BAU was housed.

She had _never_ done anything like this, but her mind was too numb to care.

She still couldn't process what had happened and doubt was already kicking into her mind, making her want to turn back around, but something kept her pressing on.

She hadn't even thought about what she could say to her Godfather, but she'd figure that out later, right? He was one person that she had always been comfortable confiding in, and she didn't know where else to go.

She gulped as she stood in front of the doors, took and deep breath, and opened one, walking into the lobby of a crowded field office teeming with agents going through their security, flashing badges, and scanning into where they needed to be.

Overwhelmed and unsure what to do, she hesitantly made her way to the desk with an "information desk" sign in front to a kind looking agent in police officer clothing sitting in front of a computer.

"Um, hi..." Maddie started. Her throat suddenly felt dry as sandpaper and her eyes unexpectedly watered again.

The officer looked at her with concern and confusion in her eyes, snapping Maddie out of any emotions.

She was so tired of seeing that _look-_ that appearance of pity and concern.

She snapped back to her usual demeanor.  
"I need to get to the BAU." She stated bluntly.

"Do you need to make a report?" The officer asked, confused as to why a teenager in a private school uniform needed to get to that division specifically. "I can help you fill out-"

"No no, nothing like that" Maddie said. "I just need to see Agent Aaron Hotchner. He's expecting me" she lied.

"Are you family?" She asked, trying to recall if the SSA she had heard about had a daughter or niece.

Maddie nodded.

"Ok, well all visitors have to get a visitors badge, do you have a drivers license with you that I can scan quickly to get that for you?"

Maddie nodded again, unzipping her wallet, shocked that this was working, and pulled out her learners permit.

The officer took it, scanner it in the computer system, and printed off a stick on badge that had "visitor" written on it, and handed that and another badge on a lanyard that also had "visitor" written on it to Maddie.

"That badge will allow you to scan into the elevator, but only to the third floor where the BAU is. You'll have to go through those metal detectors over there" she pointed, "and then the elevators are just on the other side, and phones must be on airplane mode or left here for later retrieval. I will keep your permit at the desk here and you will get it back when you come return the visitors badge."

"T-thanks" Maddie said, switching her phone to airplane mode. "I switched it" she said, showing the agent.

She nodded.

Maddie timidly put the badge on, went through the metal detector, and walked to the elevator. A large group of agents had just gotten on almost filling the space and one looked at her expectantly, holding the door open.

What was she doing here? This is _crazy._ She thought.

"I-I'll take the next one." She said, too overwhelmed to get on with all of them, and he let the door close.

 _He probably wouldn't even be in his office._ She started to convince herself. _Maybe he had moved offices from when she saw it last, or maybe they had gotten called away on a case that morning._

The elevator dinged and opened, empty, breaking Maddie out of her thoughts, and she slowly scanned the badge for it to open, got on, and hit the 3 button in front of her before she could convince herself otherwise.

"Wait- hold the elevator!" She heard a voice call out, and on walked 2 agents- a tall, muscular one holding a cup of coffee and his phone, and slightly scrawnier one with a messenger bag, fishing through it presumably to get his badge. Both smiled politely to her when the got on, and didn't press any other floor buttons.

"Really Reid, would it kill you to walk up 2 flights of stairs?" The tall one said, cracking a smile at the shorter agent.

"Actually Morgan" he replied without missing a beat, "the statistical chances of one getting injured walking up a flight of stairs are exponentially higher than being injured in an elevator. You could trip or fall or twist an ankle-"

"Yeah yeah, sorry I asked" Morgan said with a grin, holding his hand up and cutting his rant off.

Maddie looked down at the ground even cracking a small smile herself. She knew these agents- Reid and Morgan- from all of Hotch's stories.

And now that she thought about it, she even vaguely recognized them from Hailey's funeral.

The elevator dinged again and opened to the third floor where the agents got off, but Maddie stayed frozen in place, all of a sudden frightened and confused, and not even sure where on the third floor she was going.

Morgan noticed as he was getting off and turned back with a look of slight worry.

"Is there someone or someplace you're looking for?" He asked, wondering why there was a teenage girl with a visitors pass on that floor. He assumed that she was an agent's daughter, but it was not a common thing for a kid to go up to their parent in their building.

"U-um SSA Aaron Hotchner with the BAU." She said, now stepping out of the elevator before it could close.

"Oh, you're looking for Hotch?" He replied, a little surprised. "We can take you to him" he offered, and Reid nodded.

They walked straight ahead to 2 huge glass doors with the FBI emblem on them, and Reid opened the door for them.

"His office is right up there" Morgan pointed out, pointing to the corner office. "I think he's finishing up at a briefing" he continued, seeing that the lights were off, "but he should be back any minute. You can wait for him in there."

Maddie nodded. "Thanks" she said to the kind agent, and she meant it. Without him, she might have bailed on this idea. She walked up to the office and opened the door, carefully taking a seat in the chair facing his desk.

Morgan watched the girl walk into the door, still curious about who she was and why she needed to see his Unit Chief, but shrugged it off after a minute and placed his things down at his own desk.

"Who was that?" Emily asked, walking by having seen Morgan talk to the young girl.

"Not sure, she had a visitors pass and needed to see Hotch." Morgan replied.

"Interesting" Prentiss added, continuing to walk to the kitchen station to get more coffee.

Maddie sat anxiously in her Godfather's office. She couldn't believe everything that had happened in the last 12 hours. She had never done anything like this. Her mom was going to be _so_ mad at her.

And what about Uncle Aaron? What was she even supposed to say to him? What if he didn't believe her? This came out of no where- she hadn't given him any indication that Chris was the one causing all of her stress- in fact she worked hard to lie and make him think it was anything else.

Hotch finished up his briefing with Struass quickly and walked back into the BAU bullpen, looking down at an email on his phone.

He rounded the corner, about to walk int this office to work on paperwork for a bit when Morgan's voice stopped him.

"Uh Hotch?" He said

Hotch looked up from the email.

"Just a heads up that there's a teenage girl in your office who had a visitors pass that rode the elevator up with Reid and I. She said you were expecting her."

Hotch frowned slightly, knowing he didn't have any meetings scheduled that morning, but nodded his understanding at Morgan and went to his office, still racking his brain as to who was there.

"Maddie" he said when he walked in, stopped in the doorway. He was surprised, and confused, but being Hotch none of that showed on his face or in his voice. The way it came out, it almost sounded like he was expecting her.

She turned, and opened her mouth to explain but no words came to her.

Hotch's stomach dropped when she turned and he saw her face. She looked like she was about to throw up, and dark purple circles showed under her eyes. That same dark purple mark was matched on her wrist. He knew what that was. That type of bruise came from being held down.

Tears leaked back into her eyes. "I'm sorry. I- I didn't know what to do." She choked out.

Hotch closed the door quickly and pulled a chair so he was sitting just a couple feet across from her.

"I'm not mad, Maddie. I've known something has been going on. " He said calmly, but inside his heart was racing. "It's going to be alright. Just talk to me." He encouraged, trying not to let any anger or sadness show in his face.

Someone hurt his Goddaughter. And he was going to make them pay.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Please leave a review with thoughts or suggestions! Right now I'm debating how I want their talk to go, and if she should end up confiding everything to Hotch or talk to Morgan instead, so let me know if you have a preference on how it goes!**


	8. Chapter 8

**THANK YOU all for your kind reviews of the last chapter! I had a range of suggestions and directions and people that you all wanted involved. Obviously I can't do all of them, but my current plan based on all of your feedback is to be involving Hotch, Emily, and Morgan very soon!**

"Just talk to me" he encouraged, but Maddie couldn't find any words.

She was exhausted, the high of her adrenaline now crashing, and she felt tired and confused. And suddenly she didn't feel comfortable talking to Hotch, something she had never felt before, but how could she tell him what happened?

She normally could confide anything to him, but this was just different.

What if he didn't believe her?

 _No_ She thought to herself _You know that he'll believe you_. He always had.

Now if she could only find the words...

"Maddie?" Hotch said gently, breaking her from her thoughts.

She looked up at him and saw his eyes full of concern, more than she could ever remember seeing from him.

More than when she broke her arm ice skating with him.

More than when she told him she was being bullied in middle school.

More than when she failed her first big test in high school.

He knew this was something serious, and could see her struggling, and it was killing him.

"I-It's my fault" she whispered, a tear escaping her eye. "You kept telling me to talk to you and I didn't."

"Maddie, look at me" Hotch said in a firm, yet gentle voice not wanting to upset her. "This is _not_ your fault. Whatever happened, you're not alone anymore. We're going to get through this together. You don't have to hide it anymore."

He waited a moment, trying to let her find the words.

"I-I thought it was all in my head, but last night..." She started, but then trailed, not able to finish what had happened to her.

"What happened last night?" Hotch followed up.

Maddie's mouth opened, then closed, unable to say what she was remembering. She couldn't even bear to think about it again.

"It started a few weeks ago." She said, taking a different approach. "I-it was just small things. That's why I thought it was in my head, but they kept getting worse and then I couldn't finish my homework, or focus at school, or focus on anything!" She said, getting more and more worked up as the story started to tumble out.

Hotch nodded calmly on the outside so she knew he was listening, but inside he was reeling, trying hard to connect the vague dots that she was explaining. Was it her boyfriend? Some kind of online predator stalking her?

"Maddie just tell me who it is, and I'll make sure they can never bother you again." He promised her, looking her in the eyes. He meant it. Whoever was hurting her was going to _pay._

She looked at him, unsure if she could say it, and he nodded to encourage her.

"It-it was Chris" she said quickly, before she could stop herself. She knew he needed the name.

"Chris?" Hotch repeated, not expecting that response, "Your mom's fiancee?"

"Im not lying Uncle Aaron!" She said desperately looking up from her lap and right at him, desperate for him to believe her. "I tried to just let it go so that she could be happy, but I can't do it anymore."

"I believe you Maddie, I do." Hotch reassured.

Maddie stayed silent, and by her body language Hotch could still see that she felt guilty.

"No matter what has happened, there is nothing more important to your mom than you. Do you understand? Nothing. Just like you are Jack are the two most important people to me. This is not on you, and you don't have to sacrifice your comfort for her happiness." He said, desperately trying to make his Goddaughter understand that it wasn't her fault.

He couldn't stand to see her like this. He just wanted to take the pain away from her.

"Why don't you start by telling me how you got those bruises." He suggested gently.

She looked down at her lap to where her hands were with the deep purple marks wrapped around her wrist.

"It's all a blur..." She said, trying to remember what happened. The memories were strong, painful, and fuzzy.

"He came into my room again last night"

 _Again?_ Hotch thought.

"And he... I was trying t-" she started looking up at him, desperate to see if he was going to understand her. She knew this was coming out of no where, but she needed him to believe her, she _needed_ him to _._

"It's ok Maddie" he reassured.

She took a deep breath, finding this more difficult than she ever could have imagined.

"He raped me."

Hotch froze.

He looked up at her, not wanting to believe it to be true, and she immediately looked again, but saw the pain and fear in her face and knew it was true.

"Oh Maddie" he finally whispered, his hard exterior breaking down in an instant at those three words.

Maddie broke down too, tears streaming down her cheeks, and Hotch reached across instantly and wrapped her in a hug which made her cry even more.

With her head on his shoulder she cried even harder, all of the pain and uncertainty and stress now boiling up in her, "He raped me Uncle Aaron" she cried again, now more firmly.

"Shhhh, it's ok, it's going to be ok." He said, holding her tightly, hoping she would believe him.

After a moment she broke apart, sniffling and shaking, rubbing her eyes burning with tears with small fists.

She regressed to looking like she was 5 years old again, and that hurt Hotch even more. His goddaughter, basically his daughter, was so grown up and mature in so many ways, but looked like a helpless girl sitting now in front of him.

She wasn't strong enough to go through this, no one is. He knew that, and it made it even harder on him.

"Maddie you said this started a few weeks ago, do you want to tell me what else happened?" Hotch asked after a moment.

He didn't want to push her, but knew she needed to get it out, and he needed the information so he could start building a case against the son of a bitch.

Maddie, pulled her knees up to her on the chair and stayed silent for a moment.

"Nothing else really happened" She said after a minute, looking down.

She wanted to tell him everything- everything small thing that had built up for weeks, but she was too afraid. This was all just too much, and she just hated that it had happened and how much it derailed.

No matter what he told her, she couldn't help but feel like it was her fault for not talking to him sooner, and feelings of shame and guilt were taking over.

It didn't take a profiler to see that she was holding back, and Hotch had no doubts that she was, but he couldn't push her too hard right now.

"No?" He confirmed, still hoping she would keep confiding what happened.

She shook her head slowly. She wasn't ready to talk about the rest.

"Ok" he said, nodding and accepting it for the time being.

"I-I don't feel too good" she spoke up after a moment.

"Here," he said, taking her hand and helping her up and over to the couch in his office. "Just lie down and rest for a little bit, ok? I'm going to make this all be ok, you don't have to worry anymore." He promised.

She nodded, utterly exhausted, having not slept well at all in weeks and not at all the night before.

Hotch knelt down next to her, in full father mode now and watched her puffy eyes drift shut, and feeling pangs of guilt still shooting through him that she had to feel so frightened and alone for so long.

But now that he knew, he vowed to get her through this, no matter what it took.

 **Any thoughts/reactions/suggestions/comments are GREATLY appreciated! If you review I will update soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

As soon as her eyes were closed, Hotch went into action. He walked out his office door and straighten down the hall into Dave's.

Dave Rossi, one of his oldest and most trusted friends, was the only one on the team who even knew who Rachel and Maddie were.

He walked in and saw Rossi look up from the case file on his desk.

Rossi could tell in an instant something was off with him.

"Aaron, you ok?" He asked when the younger agent didn't say anything.

"No" Hotch replied frankly. "Do you remember Maddie, my goddaughter?"

Dave nodded, "Rachel's daughter."

"She's in my office right now. She ran away because Rachel's new fiancé raped her in her room last night." He said straightforwardly, and Rossi could see the anger in his face rise with each word.

"Aaron, I-I'm so sorry." Rossi said, at a loss for words. He remembered the punched-in-the-gut feeling he had when Joy told him about her near assault years before they were even speaking. He couldn't imagine what Hotch was feeling.

"What can I do?" Rossi asked, desperate to help his friend.

"She's asleep in my office now. I'm going to go find the son of a bitch and - "

"No, no Aaron you're not" Rossi said, cutting him off, and standing up from his chair.

He walked around his desk so he was standing eye to eye with the agent.

"You and I both know that's a bad idea." He said firmly. "We'll get him- I promise, but we need to do this right."

Hotch's face hardened, but he knew Dave was right and he nodded once.

"She disclosed to you?" Rossi asked.

"The rape, yes. But I know there's more she's not saying. I don't know why she won't tell me."

"Hotch, she's a teenage girl who has just been assaulted." He said, pushing Hotch's shoulder down gently so he would sit in the chair in front of the desk. "Disclosing to anyone is next to impossible. It says a lot that she was even able to tell you about the rape, ok?" Rossi reminded him.

"Who on the team do you think she'd feel comfortable opening up to?" He asked.

Hotch quickly scanned his team through the glass of Dave's office.

JJ was hunched over Emily's desk pointing at the computer, Reid was flipping furiously through a case file, and Morgan was headed back to his desk with a mug of coffee.

"Prentiss or Morgan" He said mater of factly.

"Ok, so we brief them on what happened and they'll interview her. Garcia will get any info on this dirtbag and Reid and JJ will help me build the case so we can get him arrested. But for now, you've got to get her to the ER for a rape kit." Rossi laid out.

Hotch's face fell at his last sentence, having not even thought about that. He knew logically that the evidence from the kit was the only way for a criminal case, but he his stomach sunk thinking about Maddie in her already fragile state going through that.

"She'll get through it" Rossi said gently, seeing Hotch's face. "And take Prentiss and Morgan with you."

"She doesn't know-" Hotch started.

"I know, but a rape kit is incredibly invasive. She'll need support in there, but might be too embarrassed to have you there during the procedure. You're like a father to her." He reminded.

Hotch nodded curtly, but didn't move. It was an extreme rarity the see such a decisive and unassailable agent look so disoriented.

Dave put his hand firmly on his shoulder. "Go wake her and explain what's going to happen. I'll brief Prentiss and Morgan and call the hospital so they're expecting you, and then we'll stay and work the case." He proposed.

Aaron nodded once and got up wordlessly to leave the office to return to his.

When he opened the door he saw Maddie no longer sleeping soundly: her legs squirmed on the small couch and her face was contorted with a couple of escaped tears on it.

Hotch knelt down near the edge, gently shaking her shoulder. "Maddie" he said once, and her eyes opened.

Her face flushed red in embarrassment that her Uncle was seeing her like this, but Hotch ignored it, wiping away the last escaped tear gently with his thumb and remembering when he did the same each tearful fall off of her bike when he taught her in kindergarten.

She sat up on the couch and he pulled a chair across from it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He first asked, referring to the dream.

She shook her hear no with her head down.

She looked overwhelmed in shame; defeated and tired, Hotch observed. " _How did I let this happen to her?"_ He thought to himself, still feeling incredible anger at Chris, but knowing he needed to stay calm and strong for her.

"Maddie we need to go to the hospital a few miles away and do a rape kit." Hotch said, knowing there was no point to beat around the bush.

"My testimony won't be enough for a conviction?" Maddie asked, defeated.

"I wish it would" Hotch said sincerely. "But we need to make sure. You also need to be examined to make sure you don't have any infections or things that need to be treated." He said.

When she didn't reply he continued, "Morgan and Prentiss will come too if you're more comfortable with them." Even though she didn't personally know the two agents yet, she knew of them well enough from his stories.

Maddie didn't reply for a moment.

"Maddie.." Hotch started worriedly.

"Ok" Maddie finally said, standing up and changing her face to look brave, but Hotch didn't stand with her.

"It's fine let's just get it over with" she said, seeing her godfather's concerned face and standing at the door.

"Ok" Hotch replied, still eyeing her worriedly and taking his keys from the desk.

Together, they returned her visitor's badge and walked to the garage to Hotch's car.

 **Please review with any thoughts on the chapter/story or ideas for the next chapters!**


	10. Chapter 10

Maddie was silent on the car ride over. Her head stayed turned out the window, watching the , trees, people on the sidewalks, and other cars blur by.

She didn't feel relieved, or scared, or in pain, or anything.

She felt numb.

Hotch tried not to, but couldn't help glancing over at her every couple minutes on the short ride to the hospital to make sure she she was ok.

And every time he looked over, he drove just a little faster.

He wanted to say something, _anything_ , to comfort her, but his mind was impossibly blank.

When he parked at the hospital, his phone buzzed from Prentiss that she and Morgan were already there in the ER waiting room. They had a room ready for her and a nurse would be free soon.

Hotch sighed, relieved. Rossi must have wasted no time briefing them and they probably used sirens to cut time over to the hospital. Hotch had considered doing the same, but was worried it might panic Maddie more.

He send back a quick "ok, walking in" text and opened his door, then realized Maddie was still frozen in her seat looking out the window of the parked car.

"Maddie?" He said gently, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Right, sorry." She said quickly, awkwardly unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the car door.

She followed Hotch inside the ER doors into, thankfully, a relatively quiet waiting room.

It was a weekday morning, so the chaos that at times overtook the hospital wasn't there.

He saw Prentiss and Morgan talking quietly but intensely in one of the room corners, and walked to them.

"Prentiss, Morgan, this is Maddie," He said.

The agent's hearts dropped at seeing her. While they may have been used to seeing gruesome and despairing cases, their compassion is what made them great agents and they felt for the traumatized survivor in front of them.

"Hey Maddie," Morgan said gently, but not in a patronizing way. From what Rossi told them, Maddie was one tough girl- which made sense, if she grew up raised in part by Hotch.

"We know there's a lot going on right now, but were here to help you through it," Prentiss added, and Maddie nodded.

"If you're ready, I can take you back to the exam room" Prentiss continued.

Maddie nodded again, this time making eye contact with the female agent.

Prentiss made eye contact with Morgan, who nodded that he would be good with Hotch. They made the plan on the way over to at least start with Prentiss in the exam room with her since she'd probably want another female with her. Morgan would stay with Hotch and make sure he didn't do anything rash.

"Ok, this way," Emily said, leading her back down a short hall that the ER nurse had shown her and to the exam room.

An exam table was in the middle of the small room, covered by a thin sheet. A chair sat next to it, as well as a doctor's stool under the sink and cabinets.

"Want to have a seat up here?" Emily suggested gently, patting the exam table after seeing the girl take in the medical room with frightened eyes.

Maddie got up on the table and Emily sat in the chair next to it.

The two sat in silence for a moment.

"Ms. Prentiss?" Maddie asked after a moment.

"Emily," she said gently, nodding that she was listening.

"Will this hurt? I mean, I know what it is, but not exactly what will happen." Maddie admitted, the fear now starting to overwhelm her.

"The exam is just for the doctor to collect evidence and make sure you aren't hurt. It may be uncomfortable, but should never be painful. If you feel pain, say something, and I promise the doctor will stop. Don't be afraid to speak up, ok? They'll take this has slowly and gently as you need." She said.

Maddie nodded, feeling a little relief wash over her.

A knock at the door brought both of their attention to the nurse who had just entered.

"Savannah" Emily said as Morgan's girlfriend walked into the room.

"Morgan called, and I'm certified" she said, with a kind voice. "Thought it might help for this VIP case" she continued, giving a sad smile to Maddie.

"Hi Maddie, my name is Savannah, and I know the team through Derek. I'll be doing your rape kit if that's ok." She said, taking a seat on the rolling stool by the sink.

Maddie nodded. Savannah's calm demeanor calmed her a little bit, and she seemed nice. It was also nice to know that it was someone the team knew, not just a random doctor.

"Maddie I know there's a lot going on right now, and you're probably feeling at least a little frightened. I just want you to know that you are completely safe now, and we're going to take this at your pace, ok?" She said reassuringly.

"Ok" Maddie said, nodding, a little more confidence back in her voice. Her words did help to ease some of Maddie's fears.

"The first thing I'm going to have you do is get into this gown in the bathroom right there." She said, pointing to a door in the corner of the exam room. "All of your clothes, including undergarments, can go into the marked bins in the bathroom, and we'll take them for evidence. But don't worry, there will be a change of clothes for you."

Maddie took the gown a little hesitantly. It at least wasn't the crinkly, paper sheet she got when she went to the pediatrician, but a regular material gown with buttons on one side.

"The gown goes on like a dress and buttons in the back. If you need help buttoning any, Emily or I can assist. And I know it might feel weird, but if possible hold off on using the bathroom or washing your hands until we can get evidence."

Maddie nodded, and walked over to the bathroom, and got changed quickly.

She turned and looked in the mirror and paused at the sight in front of her.

She looked like a ghost of herself- pale, clammy, and deep purple bags under her tired eyes. Bruises had appeared on her wrists and neck.

Now she understood why everyone was looking at her with such compassion and pity.

She looked horrible.

Sighing, she opened the door and walked back to the exam room, not wanting them to worry that she was taking so long.

 **Sorry for the delay, but now that most of the world is having to quarantine I guess it seemed like a good time to get back to it :/**

 **Hope you all are staying safe and healthy. And if you have another moment, please leave a review and tell me what your thoughts and suggestions are!**


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